Prevailing Rate Systems; Definition of Saratoga County, New York, to a Nonappropriated Fund Federal Wage System Wage Area

89 FR 100721Prevailing Rate Systems; Definition of Saratoga County, New York, to a Nonappropriated Fund Federal Wage System Wage Area

89 FR 100721Office of Personnel Management.

89 FR 100721The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule to define Saratoga County, New York, as an area of application to the Jefferson, NY, nonappropriated fund (NAF) Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area for pay-setting purposes. This change is necessary because there is one NAF FWS employee working in Saratoga County, and the county is not currently defined to a NAF wage area.

89 FR 100721Effective date: This regulation is effective January 13, 2025. Applicability date: This change applies on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after January 13, 2025.

89 FR 100721Ana Paunoiu, by telephone at (202) 606-2858 or by email at paypolicy@opm.gov.

89 FR 100721On August 21, 2024, OPM issued a proposed rule (89 FR 67563) to define Saratoga County, NY, as an area of application to the Jefferson, NY, NAF FWS wage area for pay-setting purposes. The Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee, the national labor-management committee responsible for advising OPM on matters concerning the pay of FWS employees, reviewed and recommended these changes by consensus. The proposed rule had a 30-day comment period, during which OPM received no comments. Therefore, this final rule adopts the proposed rule at 89 FR 67563 without change.

89 FR 100721Section 5343 of title 5, U.S. Code, provides OPM with the authority and responsibility to define the boundaries of NAF FWS wage areas. Any changes in wage area definitions can have the long-term effect of increasing pay for Federal employees in affected locations. OPM expects this final rule to impact approximately one NAF FWS employee. Considering the small number of employees affected, OPM does not anticipate this rule will substantially impact local economies or have a large impact in local labor markets. As this and future wage area changes may impact higher volumes of employees in geographical areas and could rise to the level of impacting local labor markets, OPM will continue to study the implications of such impacts in this or future rules as needed.

89 FR 100721Executive Orders 13563, 12866, and 14094 direct agencies to assess all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public health and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity). This rule is not a “significant regulatory action” under the provisions of Executive Order 14094 and, therefore, was not reviewed by OMB.

89 FR 100721The Acting Director of OPM certifies that this rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

89 FR 100721OPM has examined this rule in accordance with Executive Order 13132, Federalism, and has determined that this rule will not have any negative impact on the rights, roles and responsibilities of State, local, or tribal governments.

89 FR 100721This rule meets the applicable standard set forth in Executive Order 12988.

89 FR 100721Section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) requires that agencies assess anticipated costs and benefits before issuing any rule that would impose spending costs on State, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate, or on the private sector, in any 1 year of $100 million in 1995 dollars, updated annually for inflation. That threshold is currently approximately $183 million. This rule will not result in the expenditure by State, local, or tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, in excess of the threshold. Thus, no written assessment of unfunded mandates is required.

89 FR 100721OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has determined this rule does not satisfy the criteria listed in 5 U.S.C. 804(2).

89 FR 100721This rule does not impose any reporting or record-keeping requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act.

89 FR 100721Administrative practice and procedure, Freedom of information, Government employees, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Wages. Office of Personnel Management. Accordingly, OPM amends 5 CFR part 532 as follows:

89 FR 1007211. The authority citation for part 532 continues to read as follows:

89 FR 1007215 U.S.C. 5343, 5346; § 532.707 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552.

89 FR 1007212. In Appendix D to subpart B, amend the table by revising the wage area listing for the State of New York to read as follows:

89 FR 100722New York: Jefferson Area of Application. Survey area plus: New York: Albany Oneida Onondaga Ontario Saratoga Schenectady Steuben

89 FR 100722New York: Kings Queens Area of Application. Survey area plus: New Jersey: Essex Hudson New York: Bronx Nassau New York Richmond Suffolk

89 FR 100722New York: Niagara Area of Application. Survey area plus: New York: Erie Genesee Ohio: Trumbull Pennsylvania: Erie

89 FR 100722New York: Orange Area of Application. Survey area plus: New York: Dutchess Westchester